The Ghost, The Dream and The Nightmare
by Pure Red Crane
Summary: When Tony died from the power of the Infinity Stones, he was expecting to wake up in the afterlife. Heaven, hell, maybe just the pure darkness of merciful rest, but he was given a very different sight instead. What is Tony to do when he is invisible to everyone but the sorcerers of Kamar-taj?


**The Ghost, The Dream, and The Nightmare**

Summary: When Tony died from the power of the Infinity Stones, he was expecting waking up in the afterlife. Heaven, hell, maybe just the pure darkness of merciful rest, but he was given a very different sight instead.

Disclaimer: I don't have the rights for Marvel's Doctor Strange and Iron Man.

* * *

"_We're gonna be okay. You can rest now." His dear wife, his dear Pepper, whispered with a soft voice, holding back tears, but still giving him a loving albeit pained smile. _

_And he did just that._

_Rest. Let the end come. It was time to sleep…_

_However, he was not expecting to wake up. _

* * *

When Tony died from the power of the Infinity Stones, he was expecting waking up in the afterlife. Heaven, hell, maybe just the pure darkness of merciful rest, but he was given a very different sight instead.

Once the light coaxed him to open his eyes, Tony awoke to the sight of the barren land of the Avenger's battle against Thanos. He could barely feel the dirt under his hand, and so his first thought was this was a dream. His eyes narrowed at the sunlit sky. Couldn't his dream be a little dimmer? He wanted to turn his mind off for once.

Tony lifted his head and begrudgingly lifted himself off the ground. He may as well go with whatever the dream was about.

However, once he took a step, he frowned. He couldn't feel the ground anymore. He looked down and his eyes widened. Tony was floating, and his Iron Man suit was nowhere to be seen, just his regular attire. Looking back up again, he looked around. There was no one. That wasn't right. No one would leave a sleeping person here, except maybe people who didn't like him.

When his eyes landed on a barricade where water would have rained down and drowned the battle, where a missing Sorcerer Supreme used to be standing and casting his spell, Tony could only conclude that he had been sleeping at least a few days…What person would leave Tony Stark in the middle of a battlefield for days?

Tony shook his head. "_What's going on?_"

The inventor tried to lean back on the rubble behind him for support, but instead he just went right through it…

"_Oh no_…"

* * *

Tony had rushed to the cabin, hoping to find Pepper or Morgan. It took him a minute to figure out how to move, but he eventually became accustomed to just swimming through air. That eventually evolved into simply willing himself into a certain direction. It still took time, but eventually, he made it home.

He arrived just in time to see his funeral.

The ghost-inventor was a little moved to see so many people: Peter, Rhodey, Pepper, Happy, Morgan, Steve, Bucky, Sam, Thor, Bruce, Scott and his gang, T'Challa and his group, Clint and his family, Wanda, the Guardians of the Galaxy, even Fury and Carol. He was especially surprised to see Stephen and Wong, and so close to the scene of his arc reactor on a bed of flowers, floating peacefully down the lake.

Tony's heart swelled.

He had no idea he had so many people that cared, that would come to remember and honor him.

Tony didn't move from his spot by the tree. He wanted to watch a little longer. He didn't want to disturb anyone in this moment.

As the crowd started to part, to start talking amongst themselves as the arc reactor, Tony's heart, started to disappear from view, it was then that the ghost decided to make himself known.

"_Hey_…" Tony called softly, trying to at least be respectful for the somber tone of the funeral. But there was no response, so he tried to be a little louder. "_Hello?_"

Nothing.

As Happy started bringing Morgan to the porch, Tony rushed to get into their view, nobody noticing his fast movements. "_Morgan, honey_-"

Happy and Morgan went right through him. Tony staggered back and started to become desperate with a mix of fear and anxiety. He got up and turned to the rest of the group.

"_Pepper?!_" he yelled. "_Peter?!_"

Nothing.

"_Steve?!_"

Nothing.

"_Thor?!_"

Nothing.

"_Rhodey?!_"

Still no response.

Tony's head was spinning, just as his body was, as he called his friends one by one. He stopped, however, when he felt eyes on him. He turned towards the two people who had not moved from their spot by the lake.

Stephen and Wong were staring at him, completely surprised and bewildered. Tony stared back with an equal amount of disbelief.

"Wong, are you seeing this?" Stephen asked as if wondering if someone had slipped something into his tea.

"…Yes." Wong wiped the surprise off his face, trying to regain his composure. Stephen looked down unsurely and awkwardly.

"Okay then."

"_Strange, what's going on?!_" Tony growled.

Stephen's mouth hung agape as he pondered his reply. "I…have no idea."

* * *

Stephen and Wong quickly excused themselves from the funeral, giving fast condolences to Pepper before dragging Ghost Tony through a portal to the Sanctum.

"This isn't right. An astral form and body need to be linked, otherwise neither can be alive. Your body is dead and yet your spirit lives…" Stephen muttered, pacing over the Sanctum floor.

"_What? Didn't you see this happening when you were looking through the future?_"

"I was looking for a way to save our reality, to stop Thanos and get rid of those stones that are a lot more trouble than they are worth, to find true victory. Unintentional astral projection of the dead was not on my list of things to look for. It should be impossible."

"It probably has something to do with the stones' radiation, likely the Soul Stone. I can't imagine any other way that this is possible." Wong proposed.

"_Are we sure I'm dead?_" Tony asked, gesturing to himself.

Stephen scoffed and sat on the step. "I think everyone wanted to check your pulse. I doubt anyone wanted to believe you were dead, or at the very least, someone would want to make sure before they buried you."

Tony rolled his eyes. "_Fine, so why can you see me?_"

"At Kamar-taj, we are taught in the ways of astral projection. At some point, we can train ourselves to see and hear that which is usually invisible and voiceless." Wong clarified. A spark of optimism filled the ghost.

"_Can we train the others?_" Tony asked hopefully. "_I'd like to talk to them_."

Stephen looked skeptical. "It would take years, Tony. Do you really think they'd be up for that?"

"_They went through time-travel to save everyone. I'm sure they'd be willing to go through whatever training they need to see ghosts_."

"Will they believe _me_?" Stephen asked sceptically. At that, Tony faltered. "They don't know me. Even you struggled with the concept of time-travel, and that idea at least had some science to back it up. Astral projection is a spiritual art, so not only will there be doubts, but it will be incredibly difficult to comprehend and adapt. Will they really choose to learn magic simply based on my word that you are haunting us?"

"_I'd like to think so_." Tony replied with more confidence. Stephen, however, seemed more resigned.

"So would I. However, in their position, I tend to not believe in things until I've seen proof. And I can't just show them Tony Stark's ghost."

"…" Tony was silent, thinking and feeling trapped. Were there no options?

"They are currently upset. I think you should let them cope." Wong interjected.

"…"

"In the meantime…" Stephen stood and walked up a few steps before turning back to Tony. "I propose _you_ be the one to learn the mystic arts."

"_Say what?_"

* * *

Learning the mystic arts would have to be the hardest thing Tony ever had to study. He couldn't grasp it in just one night like he had hoped. All the books were in a language Tony couldn't read. He had to rely on Stephen to tell him what those artifacts of the past were saying. But even then, Stephen had his own missions and would disappear without notice for hours, sometimes days, leaving Tony to wander the Sanctum, hoping the sorcerer would return soon. After a few complaints at how slow the process was going, Stephen would begin teaching Tony whenever he fell asleep, entering his own astral body to lecture and demonstrate.

The knowledge itself was a weird mixture of science, philosophy, psychology and whatever category magic theory would fit in. It left Tony in a place of understanding and ambiguity. He would understand three-fourths of a lesson, but that last quarter would elude him, and it was probably the most important part, given that Tony was still struggling to do those cool things as a ghost. It would take a month before Tony started to get a grasp of what those books were talking about, but applying it was still the challenge.

As Tony practiced, trying to make his astral form move into the real world and talk to Morgan or Pepper or just anyone, Stephen would be in the corner, reading or trying to create new spells. Tony would be delightfully surprised and excited to see Stephen practicing something amazing the following day. The sorcerer's creativity would inspire Tony. It made him wonder if he could ever reach that point, being so good at the mystic arts that he could invent just as well as he had done with engineering.

His main problem at the moment, however, was making that daydream seem very far away.

Tony groaned in frustration, trying very hard to break into the world of the living and talk to Pepper.

"_Why is this so difficult?_" he yelled, turning to the sorcerer meditating in the background.

"_You're trying to force your spirit through dimensions, Tony. Of course, it's difficult_." Stephen replied. "_The Ancient One would say you need to silence your ego, that you can't make magic do what you want by forcing it_."

Tony rolled his eyes at the conflicting information. "_You keep referencing your teacher. Don't you have your own words, Strange?_"

"_Teaching isn't my strong suit, Tony. It's the reason I refused being a medical consultant…that and my pride wouldn't let me_."

Tony sighed. "…_I'd probably do the same_."

"_Just try to relax and don't rush. I told you, this takes years for people to master_."

"_And yet you did it within one year_." Stephen opened his eyes and gave Tony a raised, questioning brow. "_Wong told me_."

"_Of course_." Stephen went back to meditating, albeit with more annoyance on his face. "_In any case, I can't help it if I have an aptitude for the mystic arts and you don't_."

"_Your ego is showing there, Strange_."

"_If you get to act like a child, then I do too_."

Tony scoffed. "_Ass-clown_."

"_Spoiled brat_."

"_Idiot with white hair_."

"_Moneybags_."

"_I hate you_."

"_I hate you a larger amount_."

"_Your comebacks suck!_"

"_You're just mad I can control my ego and you can't_."

* * *

"_Do you have to go? Can't you stay a little longer? I think I've almost got it!_"

"It's a dragon, Tony. It won't take me long."

"_Another one?! Can I watch?_"

"…No."

* * *

"_Where were you?_"

"Getting dinner?"

"…_What the heck is that?_"

"You don't want to know."

"_You know, I'm sure if you asked Pepper, she would give you money to buy something…normal_."

* * *

"Where were you?"

"_I wanted to see how Morgan and Pepper were doing_."

"I see…How are they?"

"_Happy is spoiling Morgan. I'm worried it's a little too much. Pepper is balancing work and taking care of Morgan pretty well. She's trying her best to do a lot of the work at home_…"

"Are you alright?"

"_I…wish I was there. I wish I could make it easier for them_."

"…"

* * *

"_Hello, honey, how was work?_"

"I'm not your spouse and don't say that so casually."

"_Given that I have successfully gotten my hands to move that TV dinner into the microwave, I beg to differ!_"

"I hate you."

"_Love you too, Strange!_"

* * *

"You get to move things within reality again and you decide to play 'Puff the Magic Dragon'?"

"_It's a good song!_"

"For five year olds…1963."

"_Ha! You like it!_"

"I have an eidetic memory and a fascination for all forms of music! I come in contact with it once and it's with me for life!"

"_You must be a gold mine of music facts!_"

* * *

"_Why do I have to learn how to enter dreams again?_"

"There are some Masters who think it would be a bad idea for you to just converse with people out of the blue. Some are even afraid that what you will threaten our way of life at Kamar-taj if your ghost is revealed to the world. And so, to appease them, I promised them that I would teach you Dream Inception. You can converse with whoever you wish and they would be none the wiser when they wake, thus they can't tell anyone that Tony Stark is a ghost and you can talk to him if you come here…The masters don't want the world to start raiding our doors."

"_But my family will still think I'm dead_."

"You are dead, but at least with a dream, all may find peace of mind."

* * *

Their time was generally in a pattern. Stephen would be gone in the morning every other day, off to meetings. He was still gone in the afternoon sometimes, off to complete missions. Tony would be left to do as he wished, be it practicing or watching over his family and friends. But more often than not, whenever the sorcerer was home, the two would talk or argue about various things, such as each other, the lack of time Stephen was helping Tony, or how Tony kept messing with Stephen's stuff, or how Stephen wasn't eating actual food.

When they finally stopped fighting, they would get to work. Stephen would let his body sleep, enter his astral form and then together they went to wherever Tony wished to try and communicate with loved ones. Sometimes it was Pepper. Sometimes it was Peter. Sometimes it was Rhodey. Sometimes it was Happy. Sometimes it was Morgan. Stephen would offer helpful/cryptic advice, and Tony would often respond with a snarky comment.

Neither of them had noticed the friendship building between them. There was too much arguing for them to see it. But despite the annoyance they had for each other, on some level, there was respect.

They cared about one another.

That's why, when trouble struck, Tony acted the way he did.

* * *

Tony decided to try talking to Morgan today. He was feeling lucky and the thought occurred that his daughter would get a kick out of all the magic stories he had – a step up from his usual story, he had to say. He was particularly excited to talk about the story where Stephen fought an interdimensional dragon that sought to eat the energy of ghosts, kidnapping Tony to his dimension and the sorcerer had to go after him. Stephen got covered in guts while Tony got out just fine. It was always fun to see the annoyed and miserable look on Stephen's face. It was one of the joys of Tony's afterlife, watching Stephen walk through a portal into the sanctum and looking like he had been in the grossest fight of his life every single time, and he was determined to share it with people.

The ghost struggled to get himself through the astral plane and into the real world, cracks like broken glass signifying the break between dimensions. He only managed to get his arm through, but it should be relatively enough to enter his daughter's dreams and talk to her with ease. Of course, it would be nice of the barrier between worlds would stop resisting him in its desire to reform.

"_Argh_…" Tony groaned, trying to keep his hand caressing his sweet girl's face while focusing on the spell.

Stephen, floating in the background, said nothing and simply watched with an analytical gaze.

"_Ah!_"

In a flash, Tony cried out and he was thrown back, phasing right through the wall and stopping in the yard. He groaned as he tried to regain his barring, waiting for the slight dizziness to go away. He floated himself back inside, his hand on his head.

Stephen looked at him with a slight smile.

"_That's the closest you've come, Tony_."

"_I touched her_." Tony said breathlessly, a wide smile appearing on his face and a happy gleam in his eyes. "_I touched my baby_."

"_Congratulations_."

Tony started moving more energetically. "_Okay, okay, now I just need to hold on long enough to enter her subconscious_."

"_You know, it doesn't need to be so hard. If you just sile-!_" Stephen suddenly gripped his head, face contorting with pain and resistance. "_Argh!_"

"_Strange?_" Tony quickly reached his friend – not that he knew what to do, especially when the sorcerer started to fizzle out like a bad hologram. "_Strange?!_"

"_I…Who?_" Stephen's eyes widened. "_N-No! I don't-!_"

Violet-black chains suddenly appeared around Stephen's astral form, making great effort to restrict the sorcerer's hands. He cried out as he was dragged away, going right through the house against his will and being pulled towards the city.

"_Strange!_" Tony rushed after him. "_Hey! Give me back my wizard!_"

* * *

Tony's last glimpse of Stephen and those chains were as they disappeared into the sanctum. The ghost phased through the window and looked around. There was no Stephen, no dark chains, but there was specks of dark aura layering spaces of the building like a disease.

"_Strange!_" Tony yelled with more panic then he intended.

There was no answer.

With ever rising worry, Tony started to search the sanctum, wandering the quiet halls. Once in a while, the ghost would yell for his sorcerer friend. Sometimes he would call for Wong.

Not that the librarian could hear him.

Tony found Wong on the floor. The sight was unexpected and didn't make sense. Was he knocked out?

Tony floated to the unconscious man.

"_Wong? Wong, wake up! Strange is in trouble!_"

Wong looked like he was stirring, trying to heed the plea with a furrowed brow, but not having any success. Tony narrowed his eyes at the man's struggles. Wong was an alert person, as he had learned when he tried to prank the man in his sleep out of boredom one night. The guy had knocked him away with magic before he could even tease out a ghostly sound.

"_Were you drugged? Food poisoning? What happened?_" Tony asked, hoping to prompt some kind of helpful response.

Instead, he got the sight of dark energy enveloping itself around Wong's form like thorny vines. Tony gasped and backed away. Wong's face went lax, lost to the unconscious completely.

hatever was happening was beyond Tony's area of expertise, and his body floated to where he suspected the other wizard should be, where the self-proclaimed-expert-of-anything-mystical's body should be, where the person he needed was.

He went to the sanctum's master bedroom.

Sure enough, there was Stephen's body, but in a very dire situation.

Stephen was floating in the middle of the room, dark magic encircling him in an organized spell, winds disordering the sorcerer's usually organised room. The Cloak of Levitation was struggling to get to its wielder, but those dark shadows were restricting its movements.

"_Strange! Hey, buddy, wake up! You have to wake up!_" Tony yelled.

In the end, Stephen was in no better shape to respond than Wong. This powerful force was keeping these two from snapping out of it. Why? Tony wasn't sure. Something to do with magic maybe?

Well, sorcerers were important to protecting the world Iron Man sacrificed himself for, and as if Tony was going to let an evil force take away one of the few he counted on. Like hell was he going to lose one of the people he could still laugh with.

Tony only had one idea. He would have to enter Stephen's subconscious and wake him up there.

With all his will, Tony reached out and tried to break through the astral plane and into the real one once more. He let out a frustrated groan at the push back. But even the winds in the room were against him. He was thrown out of the room, but he immediately got up and tried again.

And again.

And again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

At the seven try and being thrown back again, Tony glared at the force that kept him from Stephen and his goal.

"_The Ancient One would say you need to silence your ego, that you can't make magic do what you want by forcing it."_

Tony bit his lip at the memory. He wasn't even sure he could do it. He had always tried to be in control, to make sure he could keep everyone safe…However, Stephen and Wong, his new workaholic friends who can talk to ghosts, who helped him when he became invisible and alone, were on that list of people to keep safe. If 'surrendering' was what would save them, it was at least worth a try.

"_How does it even work?_" Tony wondered.

Tony took a deep breath and reached out more hesitantly. He tried to imagine in his mind's eye and feel those distant forces he had so shakily tried to reach before. He tried to imagine he was taking someone's offered hand.

The ghost gasped as he heard cracks. Opening his eyes, he saw his hand sticking through the barrier, shards floating but permitting. Tony let out a breath of relief and pushed himself further. This time, he got his torso and head through. He could feel the dark winds trying to force him back, but he resisted, reaching for Stephen. He put his hand onto the sorcerer's head and felt the dark magic try to knock him away. Tony did his best to ignore the attacks and closed his eyes, imagining a shaky offered hand taking him through a portal and into another world.

Tony felt his body get pulled.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was surprised.

Millions of images began floating around Tony before being taken by darkness. Some of them, he realized, were versions of the fights against Thanos, some stretching towards a disastrous fight against unknown deities, who either had the Infinity Stones or didn't. None of them ended well. Other images showed Stephen fighting and talking to a giant, malicious being, getting himself killed millions of times, only to come back to life thanks to the Time Stone and experience the torture again. Tony flinched as he watched Stephen get stabbed by multiple galactic rocks. It looked unbearably painful.

"_So much despair. So much misery. So beautiful_."

"Who are you?! What are you doing to Strange?!" Tony yelled at the unfamiliar voice as the darkness started to grow.

"_Life is a nightmare. You know that better than most. Come, doctor, come to the dream. You finally can __**forget**_." the voice said softly, an uncomfortable softness that put shivers down Tony's spine.

"No. You'll…" Stephen's voice was weak, as if trying to stay conscious, trying desperately to be stubborn and fight whatever dark forces were holding him, but with no strength against this magic.

"_**Forget everything**_."

"Strange!"

Tony was vaguely aware of something pulling his right hand before darkness overtook everything and he started to fall.

* * *

Landing had hurt. For the first time since his death, he felt strong pain that didn't come from spinning too much. A minor pain compared to a lot of other things he had been through, but it was enough for Tony to feel confused. He groaned and opened his eyes, narrowing them when he noted the unfamiliar ceiling.

It was dark. The room was small with only a bed and desk. The window had a lot of Asian influence and he could vaguely hear bustling outside. Tony sat up from his spot on the floor. When he got to his feet, he walked to the window. Outside was very wrong. What should have been normal people were now CGI animated characters. Everyone was incredibly happy and cheerful. Buildings were obnoxiously bright and colourful. It hurt to look at them. Tony frowned in confusion and walked away.

After a while of exploring and running into some characters in Kamar-taj student uniforms, Tony figured out he was in a sort of dream…a very weird dream. It was a weird mix of normal and fantastical, real and not real. They needed to get out of here.

"Okay, if I was Strange, living the dream, where would I be…?" Tony pondered, but it didn't take him long to reach a conclusion, face contorting with expectance, annoyance and disappoint. "You bookworm."

* * *

Tony couldn't get too mad at Stephen for being a book lover. It made finding him pretty easy. However, when the ghost entered the library, he was surprised to see Stephen in burgundy robes, not blue. An animated version of Wong was putting books on shelves while two people were near a really fake Eye of Agamotto. Tony didn't recognize them, not the green robed man with dark skin nor the bald woman in yellow robes. But identity was the last of his worries. The thing that skyrocketed to the top of Tony's list of things to do was get Stephen away from those shadows that were clinging up the sorcerer's legs like snakes, climbing up the doctor's person ominously.

With suspense, he slipped into the library and the three animated figures turned to him. Tony immediately knew he was in trouble.

"Uh-oh."

Tony wasn't particularly amazing at close-combat, or fighting without his suit, but he had the reflexes to move out of the way when not-Wong nearly sliced him with a magic circle. Green-person was on Tony next, moving through air thanks to magic boots and hitting him hard with a staff. The ghost actually crashed into a book shelf, feeling pain once more, and it dawned on Tony that these people may actually be able to end his afterlife.

Heck no. He wasn't going through that again.

Tony made a dash for Stephen, who seemed oblivious to what had just happened, and continued to do so as the ghost was repeatedly attacked by not-Wong and green-person. He swore at the onslaught, especially when green-person got another attack in and not-Wong made his sweater singe. This was insane and Tony was incredibly defenseless.

Just what the heck was happening anyway.

Things got worse as room started to literally spin. Tony cried out as he unwillingly crashed into the wall, then the ceiling, and then the floor. When he looked up, he saw yellow-person waving her hands around. Stephen never did anything like this, and it further perplexed Tony that the only thing that was crashing into things was himself. How was Stephen still not noticing anything? Just what kind of spell was he under?

The room spun again and Tony found himself falling towards not-Wong and his scary spell circles. He did his best to avoid the sharp ends and just hit the center of the circle, landing just in front of his opponent. He rolled away as not-Wong brought his weapon down. Then the room started to turn again and Tony barely grabbed the immovable shelf.

The turning started to become much more erratic as yellow-person seemed to be trying to get Tony to let go, forcing him to keep changing his grip. The situation was chaos for Tony. Green-person standing on one wall, waiting for Tony to come his way, while not-Wong was on the other, doing the same. He couldn't attack yellow-person as she was too far away. Stephen was near her and still unaware of the situation, eyes blankly looking at his book.

"Strange!" Tony tried calling. But Stephen didn't even blink. He simply turned the page. Tony growled in annoyance and changed his grip again as the room turned. He looked around for something that might change the situation.

There didn't seem to be any.

And so, he decided to go with the best weapon of all:

Improvising.

Tony started reaching for whatever piece of shelf he could reach, trying to make his way over to Stephen. His opponents immediately caught on to his intents and suddenly, the room just wouldn't stop spinning. All three of them started making their way to the intruder and Tony started to reach for the next shelf more frantically. It was difficult, considering gravity kept changing on him, trying to move him in all sorts of directions.

It was as the animated wizards were about to strike him that Tony took a shot and somehow managed to grab Stephen. The uncontrolled force of his jump made him actually grab and then roll about the room, which had stopped moving the moment Tony touched the sorcerer. They stopped at some point and the ghost found himself laying on top of Stephen.

"Strange!"

At suddenly being straddled or maybe the sound of his name, the sorcerer snapped out of his trance with wide eyes before gripping his head and screaming in pain.

"_No, no. Stay in the dream_."

"Stop!"

And the place morphed again.

This time, Tony felt something quickly wrap around him.

* * *

When the dream changed, not only were the animated wizards gone, but Stephen was gone too, much to Tony's dismay. But at the back of his mind, the engineer suspected that, on some level, the sorcerer had momentarily gained some level of control because he was now magically in his Iron Man suit. His eyes widened at that and he started to check everything. It seemed like it was just as he remembered it.

"Friday?" Tony called out questioningly.

"_Incorrect, boss_." A female voice responded.

Tony started to pace. "You sound like Friday."

"_I am a piece of Stephen Strange's magic that he managed to transfer to you. At your preference, I have taken the form you need most_."

Tony stopped. "Sweet!" He looked over himself once more. "Do I have all my systems?"

"_Only a fraction is available. Not everything was able to reach you in time_."

"A little limiting, but can't say that's his fault."

With a huff, Tony looked at his surroundings. It was grey and seemed to shift in place, seemingly slightly unstable. Judging by the layout, this was supposed to be a hospital. _Supposed_ to be. What looked like 2D animated characters that Disney would be proud of seemed to be the doctors and nurses.

And they looked angry…angry and scary.

"Magic-Friday? Can you tell me what's going on?"

"_Those are Nightmare's minions. They are meant to keep you from Stephen Strange_."

"And who the heck is Nightmare?"

"_The Ruler of the Dream Dimension. He desires to take control of your world and trap everyone in nightmares for the purpose of exploiting dream energy. However, with the sanctums in place, he should not be able to get through_." Magic-Friday explained as their enemies charged. Tony blasted as many of them as he could before some of them got close and he had to fly. The doctors and nurses tried to grab him as he dashed through the halls blindly. The cracks of the building that grew bigger and bigger were a little nerve-racking.

"Then how is he getting through now?!"

"_Stephen Strange suspects it has to do with him_."

"Huh? Why?"

"_Well, either it's because he wasn't paying as much attention to the sanctum as usual_." Tony sensed the unsaid 'because of you.' "_Or it is because he is haunted by his past, more so than others as a result of what he has felt and seen. Nightmare has finally learned his lifetimes of suffering and means to exploit it_." Tony was suddenly grabbed by the ankle. The doctor with abnormal strength was in the air with him as it growled with glowing eyes at the red-yellow hero. "_Stephen Strange had hoped he was mature enough to handle his inner pain, but he overestimated himself. No one is that strong_."

"Strange and his stupid ego." Tony muttered as he kicked the doctor in the face, causing the other to hit the floor.

"_You're not much better, boss_."

"What's his game plan here? What does Nightmare want with Strange?"

"_Either keep Stephen Strange here forever and increase the likelihood of an outside force destroying the sanctums or use him as a conduit to break the sanctums himself_." Magic-Friday surmised through unknown calculations. "_But to do the latter, Stephen Strange will have to become so enthralled in a dream that mental barriers fail and Nightmare may possess his body. If that happens, Stephen Strange will fade and actually become Nightmare_."

"Not on my watch." Tony glared at the remaining enemies and shot them with rocket missiles. "He may be a jerk, but he is a necessary jerk."

"_Again, you're not much better, boss_."

Tony ignored Magic-Friday and tried to think. Where would Strange be this time? If he remembered correctly, according to Wong, Stephen had been a surgeon before becoming a Master of the Mystic Arts, therefore, in a hospital, the future wizard would want to be the surgery room, the place of his element. That was the only conclusion Tony could come up with.

"Magic-Friday, can you scan the building? Can you find Strange in this mess?" he asked as he shot at a wall of enemies.

"_Unfortunately, Stephen Strange was unable to give you this 'scan.' The majority of your choices that he managed to send you are weapons_."

"Fine then. We'll do this the old-fashioned way."

Tony stopped and looked around for a moment. This was Stephen's dream, more or less, and he had learned that the sorcerer was neurotic enough to always make sure things were organized, so somewhere in this realm of subconscious, there should be an unintentional map. Because that's how any large building was – there had to be a map. Tony mentally thanked deities above that the need to have things a certain way was the soul of the mannerisms of doctors.

Of course, it would be nice if Nightmare's doctors were not so violent.

Readying his arm, Tony shot another blast at a group of enemies. "These things just keep coming."

"_So long as Nightmare has power left, they will always seem that way_."

"What a pain." Tony grumbled before noticing a map at a desk and a crowd of 2D characters.

Not wanting to accidentally destroy the map, Tony summoned his battering ram. Both sides charged forward and the red-yellow hero began punching every enemy he saw with intense force, sometimes causing one to crash into many. Smashing through like a Hulk, Tony eventually had enough of a gap to see the map, singling out the word surgery and its place in the building.

Got it.

Not willing to go through the halls or patient enough to find out where he was, Tony blasted away from the recovering enemies and smashed through the window. He momentarily noted that everything outside the hospital was like the dark cosmos, stars and streaks of violet over a black void, before turning back and slamming into one of the floors after a quick calculation. From there, he began barging his way into whatever door he saw.

The minions started to become much more aggressive.

With every passing millisecond, more and more of those fake nurses and doctors started to cover every surface of the building, trying to grab Tony with unnatural strength and power. The iron hero would learn this when one, being held down by a group, somehow managed to get him to stop in midair. Tony blasted that fake doctor, forcing it to let go and made a harsh turn in the process.

As luck would have it, when Tony opened his eyes, laying in the rubble, he saw Stephen, who was enjoying himself to Chopin as he was performing surgery, completely unaware of the shadows creeping around his waist. He glared and then tackled the real doctor, slapping him. Stephen looked at him wide eyed before that expression of struggle returned.

"Strange, snap out of it!"

"_Need I remind you why you should stay with the dreams I made just for you, little doctor?_" Nightmare's disembodied voice said gravely. Tony could feel annoyance coming towards him.

Quite frankly, Iron Man was mad as well.

"Don't you dare!"

* * *

Tony grumbled to himself as the world shifted again. How was he supposed to save Stephen when Nightmare kept hitting the reset button? Maybe if he hit Stephen hard enough, the sorcerer would snap out of it long enough to get the chance to use another convenient spell and stop Nightmare's control. Putting his hands on his hips, the ghostly hero took a look at his new surroundings.

It was a very black and white world with grey shading. The place had much more unstable static than the previous one, like a really old television. The landscape didn't even have a shred of reality to it anymore. In fact, it seemed that everything had a face on it…very malicious faces. Meanwhile, cartoon characters, ranging from animals to people to generally non-sentient objects, were looking at Tony with killing intent.

He sighed in self-pity.

Iron Man blasted into the skies and the cartoons followed him in cartoon planes that they pulled out of their pockets. Tony rolled his eyes with a muttered "Of course." He then noticed the one house in the entire town without a face on it and knew that had to be where Stephen was being kept.

With concern and annoyance, Tony charged.

This fight was much more frustrating than the previous one with 2D Disney-like characters. These black and white cartoon characters lived in a world of their own. Physics and reality didn't matter at all. It reminded Tony of a weird scene from _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_. Iron Man would shoot and punch, but each attack would be dodged or blocked in the strangest ways, and each of their successes would be followed by an incredibly aggravating evil laugh. Tony rolled his eyes whenever those cartoons took out the most ridiculous of weapons.

But with every moment, his struggles got him closer.

Then closer.

And closer.

Almost there.

Upon escaping the grasp of an evil dragon, Tony crashed through the roof of the house.

"I want to punch Nightmare so bad." Tony muttered angrily as he stood.

Tony trudged his way out of the debris and into the hallway. It was on the small side for his tastes. It implied 'old house' and you will struggle to move and see. But that didn't matter. What mattered was Stephen was here, forced to see something by an evil deity.

When Tony stopped in the middle of the hall, he started to hear crying. Curiously and apprehensively, he determined the sounds were coming from downstairs and he followed it. The stairs squeaked with every step and once he reached the middle, he saw a sight that broke his heart.

A teenager in jeans and an open sweater with unruly yet familiar dark hair was sobbing into his hands, knees to his chest and a schoolbag dropped at the entryway to the living room. But inside that room was a scene of horror. A woman was laying dead on the floor, a circle of blood over her breast. An arm rested on her stomach while her legs folded limply over the rug. There were no signs of breathing. On the other side of the room was a man sitting just as limply on the couch, arms and legs spread away from the body. In his right hand was a gun, fingers resting over the trigger. Two holes in both sides of the head were clearly shown like the splatter of the man's blood on the wall. On the coffee table was a picture of the woman and man with two small kids, one likely six while the other must have been Morgan's age. Tony looked back at the black-haired teenager.

Stephen must have just come home from school to find that his father had shot his mother and then killed himself.

"Oh Stephen…" Tony said with a sad gaze and a sympathetic voice.

"I don't want people to die anymore…" the boy said a little incoherently and muffled between tears.

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Anymore?"

Suddenly, a dark smoke formed around Stephen. Tony's eyes to widen in fear as unnaturally large fingers placed themselves on the sorcerer's shoulders and a malicious smile formed in the darkness behind his head. The figure whispered in Stephen's ear. "Poor Stephen Strange. No friends. And now no family. No one you love stays. So _alone_."

"Hey! Get away from him!" Tony yelled as he jumped over the stair railing.

"Because wherever you go, tragedy strikes…"

It was the unconscious thought that he might hit Stephen that prevented Tony from attacking the shadow.

And the world spun once more.

* * *

This time, Tony wasn't forcibly separated from Stephen. However, he was given another unpleasant sight. Everything had become black and various shades of grey, and looked like each feature was cut out from paper. But as simplistic as the world around him seemed, the scene it was depicting was not.

The most chilling thing about this scene was the sight of those children from the photo. A four-year-old Stephen was kneeling beside the limp body of the six-year-old girl. They were in swim clothes and a deflated water float had been tossed aside. Could she have swum to the deep end when the float popped and couldn't get away from the waves?

"What do I do? What do I do?!"

Tony immediately thought of CPR, not really expecting a four-year-old, even if it was Stephen, to know about it. Morgan was current-Stephen's age and could count to the thousands, but she hadn't been taught CPR. 'She's not strong enough yet,' Pepper had told him.

The man moved out of instinct, wanting to help the girl or at least comfort Stephen, the fact that this was just a nightmare momentarily forgotten because of a hero complex.

But that one step was all Nightmare let him take.

What felt like two hoofs hit his arm and Tony found himself crashing into the water, putting great distance between the hero and the crying boy. Tony cried out in pain and his systems started yelling in panic. He groaned under the water as the magic, acting as nano-tech would, tried to repair itself, fixing the broken iron armor. When he opened his eyes, a shadowy horse was moving through the water effortlessly, running towards him with an angry gaze.

Not wanting another hit by the hell-horse, Tony rushed to blast himself out of the water and into the paper skies, avoiding the head on attack. From his new spot, he could see another shadow enveloping Stephen and the world started turning black with various shades of toxic violet. Tony shuddered at what this could mean and Nightmare being so close to Stephen in such a form. He rushed to try and get the child away from the villain.

A kick to the back had him hurtling through the air and towards the blackening ocean. He managed to stop himself this time, however. Stupid magic horse.

"Urgh, that thing's nothing like those unicorns Morgan likes or Valkyrie's pegasus." Tony growled as he looked up, glaring at the dark horse that turned towards him.

"_It is Dreamstalker, Nightmare's favourite follower_." Friday stated.

"Can't imagine why." Tony mumbled as he tried to fix his back. He was not enjoying the pain and sort of missed just being a ghost.

Right now, though, he was the hero.

And his friend was in danger.

Dreamstalker charged and Tony flew away, trying to get to Stephen, whose situation was getting worse and worse. Shadows were spreading around the child and Tony could only see a head clutched between two hands now. Nightmare was psychologically torturing Stephen into submission.

With a glare, Dreamstalker managed to get in front of the ghostly hero. Tony, in return, shot beams at the dark magic horse, momentarily stopping from the force before trying to circle the distracted creature. Tony managed to gain some distance before Dreamstalker shook off the effects of his attack. After a chase, the dark horse bit into the armor and the magic metal came off. Tony punched the dream demon.

"_Boss, I should warn you: the magic Stephen Strange gave you is not infinite_."

"How much do I have left?" Tony asked in worry, momentarily looking at the damaged area as it fixed itself.

"_Fifty-seven percent_."

"Not as much as I would like…" Tony maneuvered to avoid another attack from Dreamstalker. It sent out a wave of shadows and the ghost summoned a shield. An idea came to mind. "What if I released Strange's magic? What would happen?"

"_It would explode like one of your energy beams, only on a much larger scale_."

"Keep me posted on the percentage."

With the shield still operating, Tony summoned a sword in his other hand. "_Fifty-six percent_."

Tony dodged Dreamstalker's charge and slashed it. The body showed damage, but the shadowy horse didn't seem to be slowing down. It sent another dark wave and Tony had to shield himself again. This time, when Dreamstalker charged and tried to bite him again, he tried to stab it was he flipped under it from his spot in the air.

"_Fifty-five_."

Dreamstalker quickly turned and tried to stomp on Tony. Iron Man swerved to the side and slashed at the dark horse's legs. There was a reaction this time. It neighed and stomped at the air some more, albeit with more emotional purpose than calculated. Tony saw this as his chance and made a beeline for Stephen. Dreamstalker struggled to chase him.

As Tony got closer to Stephen, the shadows surrounding the sorcerer started attacking him with sharp dark blades. The hero dodged as many as he could and blasted the ones that got too close.

"_Fifty percent_."

"Doesn't all this reality hurt?" Nightmare whispered in Child-Stephen's ear, Tony catching it from his closing distance. There was a sense of desperation in the dream deity's voice, however. "Isn't the dream better? Come, child, fall into the embrace of my world of fantasy, where logic is meaningless, where memories can be changed into the way you want them."

Tony smashed into the thick shadows, pulling at the darkness in his mission to save Stephen. Digging and digging was proving hopeless, only prompting the shadows to struggle against him and its treasure deeper, so Tony took a deep breath.

He hoped this would work.

"Now! Release!"

A wave of gold, green, red and blue exploded and the shadows disappeared in the power of the magic's light. With Nightmare pushed back, Stephen's child form came into view as the shadows retreated and Tony was quick to grab him. His larger body enveloped the smaller, ready to protect him from the darkness when it returned, refusing to be separated again.

"Strange!" Tony cried out, hoping to bring back the sorcerer's memories.

"T-Tony…" Stephen replied, albeit weakly and blearily. He sounded tired, like he was on the edge of giving up. His eyes were cloudy, as if he was struggling between the past and the present. The smaller sighed sadly. "I can't save the people that matter to me. I couldn't save April, Mom, Dad, the Ancient One…and then there's Natasha, even you. I saw it all and I can't help but feel bad. I wish there had been another way! I wish there was something I could change!"

"You've been hiding all of this…"

Stephen continued to ramble. "I want to save lives. I try to find solutions, but lately they haven't been perfect…" Small arms wrapped around the boy's chest as if that could protect him. "Pain's an old friend."

In that moment, the darkness started to overcome the protecting light.

"_Don't you want a world where dreams come true?_"

"What good are dreams if you don't live?!" Tony yelled. Panic entered his heart and he shook Stephen. He needed to snap him out of it. "Stephen, don't listen to him! Death is part of life – yes! Is it something to try and prevent? Yes, no one wants to lose someone precious! But we need it! It gives us the motivation to make our best out of life! Thanks to you, their deaths had meaning! They could live through you as you save and protect reality!" Tony grabbed Stephen's face and looked him in the eye, taking in those fascinating irises. "I live through you!"

Those magic-like eyes widened with realization. Stephen's doubts and regrets faded with a renewal of determination. The tiredness disappeared and was replaced with rejuvenation. Wisdom beyond Tony's understanding returned to the sorcerer's soul as emotions were no longer overwhelming him. Tony felt in his bones that his magician had returned to normal.

Stephen closed his eyes and magic that Tony began to envelop the sorcerer. In a glow of blue, red, gold and green, the form grew bigger until it dimmed and revealed Stephen, completely back to normal, height and all. He smiled at Tony.

"Welcome back."

"Good to be back."

In that moment, the magic that Tony used to buy time faded and the shadows shot for Stephen. But the magician was ready. His fingers bent into their standard sign and he crossed his arms. The dome of a shield, the one Tony saw in Ebony Maw's ship, quickly took shape. Upon hitting the shield, the shadow was thrown back and the shield broke.

After being pushed away, the shadows, seemingly begrudgingly, morphed and Dreamstalker came to its side. Offering its head, long creepy fingers petted its black fire mane. At the touch, the shadows dispersed to reveal a chalk-white man with wild green hair, a green bodysuit, and a ragged black cape. He looked like a nightmare.

"Okay, Strange, how do we deal with him?" Tony asked warily, eyes never leaving the ominous deity of sleep.

"Dreams are his domain, Tony. So long as we are in my unconsciousness, we can't do anything to him."

"What?! But it's your head!"

"Not the part I can control." Stephen said with a hint of regret. "I can't make decisions here like when I'm conscious."

"Well, that's just great." Tony muttered with all the irritation in his body. Stephen just looked at him with the same smile as before.

"Don't worry, just do what you normally do against an invincible opponent."

Stephen sent a spell Tony's way and the non-magician found himself in his Iron Man suit once more, only fully charged and definitely with all systems. Tony smirked at the sorcerer and readied a rocket launcher, aiming it right at the deity of sleep's face. Nightmare merely mounted his trusted horse and narrowed his eyes at the two.

"I had thought you would love to 'sleep,' given your past."

Stephen made quick movements, conjuring two large spell circles. "It's because of my past that I won't 'sleep.' I won't stop saving people and protecting reality."

Nightmare closed his eyes, rubbing his chin in thought before looking at the two humans once more. "I think you just need more convincing."

With a wave of his hand, the landscape changed into a blank state of black and moving dark neon-violet, and Nightmare summoned an army. They looked menacing, their forms ranging from dangerous animals to dinosaurs to mythical creatures to dangerous people with various weapons meant to painfully cut flesh. This deity could have whatever help he wanted. It simultaneously unnerved and irritated Tony to no end as he stared at the various minions he would have to fight.

But Tony had a Doctor Strange.

Stephen raised his hands before slamming them into the floor. The gold spell circles quickly morphed into a large wave of blue light that hit Nightmare and his troupes with incredible force. The army found themselves breaking down and unable to move. Nightmare and Dreamstalker were the only ones who took minor, albeit still effective, damage and could still fight. The former looked at his army before waving his hand, making them retreat.

With Stephen at full power, this could only be a two on two fight.

Tony stood behind the sorcerer, stunned and dumbfounded.

"And you didn't do that against Thanos because…?"

Stephen turned nonchalantly to Tony for a moment. "I always hold back when fighting in large groups. I run the risk of killing my own comrades."

"Uh-huh…"

"Also, I only came up with the spell while watching you get thrown out of the cottage tonight."

"G-Good to know my pain is your benefit."

Stephen and Tony readied themselves when Nightmare turned to the duo with new determination. The heroes, in turn, glared back.

And the battle was on.

Nightmare and Dreamstalker charged. With a raise of his arm, a dark violet spell circle appeared. Tony grabbed the cloak-less Stephen and soared into the air. The sorcerer flexed his fingers and moved his hands, staring at a specific spot. When Dreamstalker, his unstoppable charge preventing it from slowing down enough to turn, reached the focused area, red bands erupted, catching the dark horse and its master. They crashed into the invisible floor from the momentum and restriction.

Nightmare growled with a grit in his teeth and glared at the heroes as his spell circle shattered in the loss of concentration. The deity of sleep started struggling against the bonds with his loyal stead. He broke free, but not before Tony hit him with various attacks, striking him in the face every time. It angered and frustrated Nightmare and he channeled those emotions into the force that would allow him to break the red bands and rip apart the ones holding Dreamstalker.

The deity waved his command and Tony found himself once again being chased by the evil horse of death. Nightmare turned to the blue wizard standing high above and far away from him on a gold platform spell circle, arms ready for any attack.

Tony wasn't thrilled about going against the horse again, but felt more up to the challenge this time. In the chase, he turned and shot a beam at Dreamstalker. The dark horse took the hit and then shot a black flame at the hero. Tony dodged and did so again as more fire came his way.

"That horse may as well be a dragon." Tony muttered to himself as he and the horse continued to exchange attacks. A flame nearly hit man and he grumbled some more. "If only it would hold still." Suddenly remembering that the legs were the weak point, an idea came to mind, one he wished he come up with earlier.

A compartment in the suit opened and a string of activated bombs came out. They exploded at the horse. The fire and smoke burned it. The horse neighed, standing on its back feet. As the fire faded in the dark smoke, Dreamstalker galloped into the clearing and looked for its target. After turning its head once, something clasped onto its hoof. It looked down at the device before the machine started dragging the horse down, searching for something to stick to, eventually hitting the invisible floor. When it tried to get up, another lock hit another ankle. The horse, left in an awkward position, started to struggle, but was unable to escape. It neighed again and flared its nostrils, glaring at Tony, who was hovering above it.

A flash of black flames started flying in all directions, though mostly meant for the red and gold hero.

And the thought occurred that maybe he should completely subdue the evil horse.

Meanwhile, as Tony was shooting and restraining Dreamstalker, Stephen was busy with Nightmare.

Without the edge of surprise to completely drown his opponent's consciousness, Nightmare could only try to overwhelm Stephen with sheer power, but the sorcerer was just countering everything that was thrown. When Nightmare shot dark magic, Stephen would shield himself or turn the attack into harmless butterflies. When Nightmare tried to trap Stephen, the sorcerer would disable or cut the bonds. When Nightmare created zombie servants with the rotten faces of people who had died in the human's life, Stephen merely glanced at Tony, closed his eyes and banished the undead with gold magic.

Of course, Stephen wasn't doing anything effective either.

As is with deities, Nightmare had as much defence as offence. Stephen was attacking and trying to restrict Nightmare much like how the other was trying to do with him. It was frustrating, but the sorcerer didn't give up. Like with Dormammu, everyone eventually reached a limit, and Stephen was good at pushing people to that breaking point when it mattered.

At the moment, Stephen was fighting another army of zombies, only this time, they looked like him. Nightmare loved death, but he adored the very fear of death, something which Stephen couldn't even deny. To counter, Stephen duplicated himself with a frustrated sigh. The duplicates and zombies negated each other, but behind the mess, Nightmare was creating a giant mass of violet-black magic. Stephen was quick to make a shield just as large when he noticed. The spells collided and Nightmare was blown back slightly by the exploding force, holding his arms in front of himself defensively.

When Nightmare looked up, however, he momentarily saw Stephen with a new spell circle, and Tony charging his weapons above his comrade before the deity was blasted far away because of their attack. He was singed rather than stung, making him glare at the human and the ghost. In the corner of his eye, Nightmare noticed Dreamstalker in its trapped position. He stood.

"Do you see now? Our will won't stop."

"We can do this all day." Tony added.

"Then I'll find someone else!" Nightmare growled and created a shadowy portal out of Stephen's mind.

As Nightmare disappeared, Stephen quickly activated another spell.

* * *

A smoky shadow exited Stephen and the floating body fell limply to the floor. Winds stopped blowing and papers also fell. The shadow grumbled at the loss, of his inability to take over the most powerful sorcerer in Kamar-taj. If only that ghost had stayed out of it, had not reminded Stephen of hope, had not been so troublesome. But Nightmare can be just as willful as those two, and there was another powerful sorcerer in the building.

"_Perhaps he will be my puppet_."

Nightmare momentarily looked at the limp doctor. There were still shadows surrounding the sleeping human, as well as the red cloak in the corner. Stephen should still be trapped in his own unconsciousness. Neither the sorcerer nor the ghost would be able to interfere. At least the sorcerer was useful enough to give him a way in and enough energy to move through the mortal realm for a while.

The smoky shadow started to move through the Sanctum, smirking as his magic tainted seals and relics, following the call of nearby dreams. Eventually, Nightmare found himself hovering over Wong. His teeth began to show and he reached for the sorcerer's head.

A punch knocked the deity out of his glee, of that feeling of a sure win, and Nightmare turned to see Tony Stark glaring at him, floating protectively over the still sleeping Wong.

Stephen, with the Cloak of Levitation clinging happily to his shoulders, was right behind him.

The blue sorcerer completed his spell and Nightmare found himself once again trapped in the Dream Dimension with Dreamstalker by his side.

Nightmare roared with rage.

* * *

"_That went well. I'm going to miss being taller than you though_."

"…Thank you for your help, Tony."

"_You're welcome, awesome facial hair bro_."

* * *

It was a strange, but peaceful dream. Morgan was standing in a white place with ripples of pink light moving with calm serenity. The four-year-old going on five years in the morning, her dreaded first birthday without her father, found the place rather dull after about forty-eight seconds.

Then, much to her surprise and delight, Morgan saw red and gold light circling around. It made her think of fairies, stars and magic. Following after the red and gold were blue-green butterflies that came up to her and tickled her cheeks. She giggled and laughed. Some of them even landed on her as if she was a sweet flower. Morgan brought the one that landed on her finger to her face, taking in the beautiful, enchanting design.

When she lowered her hand, Morgan's jaw dropped and her eyes widened.

Her father was standing before her. A happy, relieved smile was on his face. Upon seeing movement behind him, she glanced momentarily at a wizard in blue making amazing creatures, like pegasi, and spell circles, livening up the previously blank space. He smirked at her and winked, making her let out a scoffing laugh. Her father looked back at the magician and rolled his eyes as he turned back to her.

Father and daughter were in agreement: that guy was definitely showing off.

The two stared at each other. Morgan was so happy to see him that she didn't know what to do. Her body reacted for her, though, and she started to cry, despite the chokes she made to hold the tears back. She missed him so much.

Her father's smile turned a little sad. He came closer and kneeled down. He hugged her and she desperately hugged back, sobbing into his cardigan.

"Hey, kiddo, wanna hear a bedtime story?"


End file.
